Posts by Noa Granot
What Is Zen Shiatsu?
Photos by Nahum Aharon Above: Noa practices with the shiatsu community in the Jerusalem hills. In one of my first blog posts, I discussed Jerusalem’s oases of peace — one of them was a school for Zen Shiatsu therapy training. So what is Zen Shiatsu and why did I become a Zen Shiatsu practitioner? I…
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Doing Nothing
On Sunday we celebrated the end of Sukkot, and in the secular world we celebrated the end of the High Holiday season. One month. Very few workdays. Mostly holidays. In Israel, most of the holidays, like a weekend, are days where most businesses are closed and there is no public transportation. Most people do not…
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Learning How To Drive Again
Like many of you readers in Detroit, I got my driver’s license in the Motor City when I was 16. My parents taught me how to drive. We’d spend hours practicing U-turns on Woodward Avenue and merging onto I-75 South. The all-too-familiar request that repeated itself at the age of 15 was “Dad! Can I…
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Embracing the Metallic – High Holiday Season
After Orbiting Into A New Year went online two weeks ago, I looked at it and scoffed. I thought, This is a load of crap! No one would want to read this. But after a day or so of feeling worthless, I shared on social media in spite of my self-deprecating thoughts. And when I…
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Orbiting Into A New Year
Have you ever thought about the relationships between the planets and the stars, the elements of the earth, the seasons, the hours of the day and yourself — your bodily functions, your thoughts and emotional processes? Sometimes, I think about my tiny little life. It is an early summer evening. I imagine enormous Jupiter making…
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Fight Or Flight – Machane Yehuda
When our bodies enter a state of stress, we go into “fight or flight” mode. All our energy and resources move out toward the surface, ready to deal with any dangers that come our way. When this happens continuously, over time, it comes at the expense of a healthily functioning parasympathetic nervous system — or…
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What Israel Has Taught Me About Stress
Israel just may be one of the most stressful places to live. Many of us don’t feel that way when we’re going about our daily lives — it will only occur to us when we are leaving or re-entering the country. When I pay my yearly visit to Michigan, a long-forgotten sense of calm and…
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Israeli And American Perspectives On Holistic Health
Hello! My name is Noa. I was born in Israel, raised in Detroit and matured in Jerusalem. When I say “matured in Jerusalem,” I mean that when I moved here, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I once said that to a colleague and her answer was, “Well, if we always…
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